Making moments

Apr 28

Life of Brian: If there's one group of people I just can't stand... -

brianmlopez:

It’s those holier-than-thou individuals who seem to think they know best, especially if they are passive-aggressive about it. Like they will be like “I hate when people are like….” when you know they are talking about someone in particular and sometimes if I know who they’re talking about, I’m…

I won’t lie. My first time getting exposed to tumblr was because I found out someone was doing this to me. They’ve never admitted it and will probably go six feet under swearing that they never put a single blog post up about me. Good stuff man. 

Apr 27

Jim Nguyen my API professor

Feel like writing.

After taking several eons and then some to graduate I’m finally going to do it. This summer I’m finally going to be walking and that has led to some reflection for me. To help me count down the days till I walk I feel like writing about people that helped me get here. I don’t know if I’ll keep doing this to be honest cause my post are so sparingly written but w/e I’m in the mood right now and I’ll try to continue this as much as I can. Blame the incoming Bachelors Degree I’m finally getting. 

P.S. I’m probably not going to edit this stuff and it’ll be free write stuff for the most part, so if it’s rough reading my bad. It’s more for me to write about people then for people read it anyways.

MOTIVATION: JIM NGUYEN

Date Met - Summer 2010…I think

Date changed my life - Dec 2010 - Early 2011

Height - 5’6-5’9

Weight - 145 (i think so, He’s a marathon runner)

Personality - Big brother/ younger uncle, intellectual type. You wouldn’t expect him to punch someone for you, but you know he’d have advice on how to handle the situation at hand. 



Jim Nguyen was one of my API professors for this summer program I took called APALI. APALI was a summer program that gave students insight to Asian American & Pacific Islander history, identity issues, leadership skills, and more. Anywho, Jim was on of my professors in that program, but it wasn’t until the fall semester of 2010 at De Anza College that I got to really know Jim.

It all started on the first day of school when I was following some friends around campus while playing “Plants vs Zombies” on my IPAD. Since I was busy owning I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going and somehow found myself with my friends on the other side of campus in Jim’s classroom. I figured a good number of friends and Jim as my teacher would be chill, so I added the class. BLAH BLAH time passed and soon my grades were slipping. At the time I was in a conundrum because the Icebox I had where my heart used to be (lol) melted and I was starting to feel all the effects of the breakup I had in the summer. 

I started tanking everything in all of my classes and basically was a Donnie Downer. I don’t remembering who approached who first, but I just know one of us hit up the other and said hey wtf is up to which I think I told Jim that I was in a bit of a bind with the whole breakup thing. We had a couple of talks, but by then I was getting pick me ups from everybody because I was starting to freak some people out because i was being QUIETER then normal (lol). 


PROBLEM


I’ve never been an academic person. I always let my smart 4.+++ GPA sister be that person in our family. I always figured that I have enough talent where others seem to lack with my charisma, speaking ability, and energy to get by in life. However, when you’re heartbroken all those skills seem to go out the window. With my main skills shut down, I saw my academics, health, and basically my life shut down. I’m someone that’s used to doing w/e I want because I always know I have more then enough energy to do anything and then some. 

AGAIN FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME! My grades were SLIPPIN fast! Sorry it’s almost 4am now. I’m getting tired.

Anyways!

JIM TO THE RESCUE



I remember emailing and chatting with Jim a couple of times on Gmail and also talking to him a bit after class, but throughout our chats one thing he did for me that really helped me get back on task has been teaching me to not just use my energy and passion to finish a task, but go through a process. 

Jim introduced me to gmail’s task option, making a calendar, and basically always having it in my mind to make a list of things to do and knock them off. He told me that it would be hard and that I would want to cheat things and do fun stuff, but I have to ignore that and buckle down and do my work for as long as it takes no matter what. It’s funny because I’ve had a bunch of people tell me and attempt to teach me this before, but Jim’s approach stuck with me because it was so interesting

Jim told me to come to his office and as he was teaching me about all the processes, he had this tone that was a mix of “THIS IS SO OBVIOUS! SEE NO BIG DEAL!”, “DO THIS!!! O-R-D-E-R”, & “I’m here for you man. I want you to succeed and I have your back!” The odd mix that Jim had in his tone really struck with me and woke me up to doing things.

To be honest I didn’t even do Jim’s techniques and tips successfully when he first taught me, even now after a year of trying I’m still not amazing at it but I am better at it. Jim taught me that. He gave me a systematic approach to everything I did and helped me realize that no task is to big that it can swallow me up as long as I start doing the little task that chip away at it and make it no big deal. 

Taking that approach really changed my life because it helped me use my brain more then my heart (which was hurting and not working) and start to get stuff done again. The funniest part is that if Jim were to find out right now he’d dismiss it and say what he did was just a small thing. However, what Jim taught me might have been a small thing, but it’s one of the most crucial little things I learned that has helped me get one step closer toward my degree and an amazing future.

Thanks Jim, for helping me get my mind straight. It means a lot. 

Dec 11

BLAH: Reflecting on how I ended up at USC -

mi2d:

Peter and I were talking about how it’s been so long since we got straight A’s or completed all the readings for all our classes, and dang, we were definitely much more responsible students in high school lol.

(I have a feeling this is going to be a very long post, buuuuut let’s see where my…

You write really long post…

Dec 01

tachycardia:

This is what I bought today. 
Best lunch & dinner ever.

I approve the tabasco and abhor the ice cream.

tachycardia:

This is what I bought today. 

Best lunch & dinner ever.

I approve the tabasco and abhor the ice cream.

Nov 16

Hi, my name is Brian.: Bottling things up and boundaries. -

brianmlopez:

I’m not one to bottle things up. I’m always open and honest with people and that extends to the internet.

But at the same time, I have learned there are some boundaries. When it comes to the more negative aspects of my life, I feel like I need to express them but I myself don’t want to come…

1st off. Congrats because i think you’re the first person i’ve ever reblogged. 2nd, i feel sorry for you because my writing skills are equivalent to the smart kid in 5th grade. It’s pretty horrible, but i get points for semi-big word usage.


I see your point in wanting to bottle your words so that you don’t come off like a negative person, complainer, or an ass. I’ve been there and I can honestly tell you that if you live life not bottling shit up and refusing to carry any baggage, then you could definitely gain a reputation that is far off from who you are. What i can’t agree with is you giving any thoughts to putting your post on a second blog. You’re just defeating the purpose of your blog in the first place.

I like your blog post. They tend to be descriptive, lengthy, and give me more of a reaction then the usual (OMG LOLCATS…NEXT). However, If you aren’t feeling confident enough to post your views on your blog because you fear other people might start to view you in a negative light then i suggest you quit blogging.

 Everybody rants, everybody complains, and everybody can sound like an ass. The people that get away with it the most w/o looking bad are the ones that make it sound amusing and rational. I feel like if you’re worrying about people thinking negatively about you then just make your rant sound rational. It’d be very hard for someone to get mad over something rational.

One of my biggest rants in the whole wide world and i swear that it gives me the creeps. 

Women with mustaches

I can’t handle it. It freaks me out. I think that if i brush up and kiss a girl with a mustache that it will tickle and prickle and that i’ll just feel sick bro. It all started when i was living in SD and i was walking around SDSU when i saw one of the most attractive asian girls i had ever seen at that point. So what did i do? i made a beeline for her right away. I stood up straight, pulled shoulders back (makes chest look better), sucked in my gut (it was when i first moved so i was only pretty fat not obese), and tried my best to show a cool smile like i was James Dean.

I was walking right up to her when i got about 10 feet away from her. I noticed something was peculiar about her but i couldn’t tell. I took another step and at 8 feet my head naturally did that slight nod when you know somethings off but you don’t know what. i took another 2 steps and i saw it. MUSTACHE. I walked past her and i was so…turned off. I will never forget the way my stomach and feelings were hurt that day because of what i saw. I seriously thought that if i were to kiss her (in hindsight it was very unlikely as she was way out of my league w/ that stache) that her mustache would prickle my skin. I just remember going home depressed that day from seeing that girl rock her mustache. She had everything working for her. The body, the smile, the hair, the clothing which accentuated all of that body. The one thing that killed it all was that mustache. I went home that night thinking that it was a one time thing.

IT WAS NOT A ONE TIME THING

Fast forward a couple of months and i’m single at the time and chillin with some chick. She had a mini fuzz. I’m not talking about the hair in the middle, but you know that hair on the sides/corners. Girls think we guys don’t notice but we do. oh we do. Anywho, i instantly spot this on the girl instantly and it did irritate me but this girl was being nice so i figure i could soldier on. One thing led to another and then we kissed. Theres the rest of the story but that is irrelevant because at that moment i realized one thing. 

OMFG! I just felt her stache prickle me…

Since then i have been very adamant about not liking mustaches. That rant right there i feel was slightly amusing. It honestly does disturb me, it’s descriptive, and it was lengthy enough that people could maybe feel the feelings i felt (i’m a horrible writer). However, people are obviously going to take offense to this, so here is my disclaimer. 

I am not a fan of women with mustache hair, leg hair, and hair on there (you know what i mean). This doesn’t mean that i’ll be mean to you. It just means that i won’t be attracted to you. I don’t feel like this makes me a jerk or an intolerant person because i find not liking mustache hair on a girl is a preference. It’s the same as preferring someone thats taller, smaller, brunette, or blonde. So don’t go out of your way to make me sound lik satan because i’ve told you how i feel about something and why. 

I feel like this hot mess i just wrote was rational (it’s just a personal preference that makes mustache hair unappealing to me) and amusing (I’ll never forget the feeling of woman’s mustache caressing my face..uggh). 

POINT OF ALL THIS 

You have a blog for a reason. You use it to voice your thoughts, love it enough to attend to it daily, and should never let anybody make you feel like your thoughts don’t belong on your blog. If you’re not confident enough to vent then be a comedian and make it sound amusing. If you’re still not confident enough to vent then be a politician and make it sound rational. If you’re still not confident after trying those methods then be like Anderson “SILVERFOX” Cooper (my man crush) and combine them. 

Sorry again for making you witness my writing and sorry if none of this makes sense. It’s almost 3am and i don’t write often (as you can tell from my over usage of parentheses and just horrible writing skills in general). If this made you angry or upset or something then my bad.

Apr 26

Quick post

Because people think i don’t write often…well they’re right. 

Heres my life in a jiffy right now. Theres this girl. :D 

E.T. you say! isn’t theres always a girl when it comes to you!??

True, but i know i’ve said it before but this girl is something else. She’s something that i don’t know what to do with? 

What E.T. What do you mean you don’t know what to do with her?

Well Tumblr. She’s as confident as me and has some weird ability to burn me speechless. To me that’s hot cause i don’t lost smack talk contest often so it’s fun when someone can do that to me. She also is one of those chicks that guys always talk about. You know that one! NO No No not THAT ONE but the other one. The one that listens and tries to understand you. The one that gets past your guard while never letting you drop it cause it seems that she wants you to become that better person that she knows you can be. 

Well E.T. What are you going to do about it? 

I don’t know, see i have this problem where i don’t get awkward in social situations. if anything i get crazier and more awesome when more of the spotlight hits me.  However, when this woman (her names woman cause i don’t like this feeling she gives me…it’s so 2000 and late) comes around i get all weak in the knees and i start doing that thing that guys do when they see the hot chick at one of those mall kiosk that try to sell them weird shit like a man purse. I Lose ALL CONFIDENCE. I go” uh HAHA funny teehee um yea sure” on the outside while i’m thinking things like “PRETTY, SO PRETTY, HIIIIIIIIII how you doing”

Wow it seems that you have a legit crush on this chick. She must be pretty awesome.

Iunno about that… well i think so at least i mean she has to be if she got past my guard.  

Well thats my life in a jiffy. quick ass post. told you i can write. i just like living more than i like writing, however this chick is dope enough that i can find the time to write about her cause at the moment i can’t find myself not thinking about her. 

Mar 16

Because clothes don’t iron themselves…

Life is short and so is my time before i move. 

About 5 months left and i have so much to do and learn before I start another chapter in my life. 

I’m not ready for this move yet so i’m making a list of things i should do and learn before i move.

If you think you can help by solving some of my items on the list or adding things that i might’ve forgotten to the list then hit me up and lets make things happen. 

Things to [Learn]:

1. How to iron my clothes

2. How to golf

3. How to restore the polish on silver and metal stuff

4. How to make bbq sauce

5. How to grill a steak correctly

6. How to get blood/wine out of clothes

7. Muay Thai

8. Krav Maga

9. Grappling

10. MC shows effectively

11. How to ballroom dance

12. improve my tolerance with liquor

13. Different ways to knot my tie

14. how to tie a bow tie

15. learn how to ride a motorcycle

16. how to mix drinks (mixology)

17. Know my cigars

18. learn more about wine

19. How to “Suit up”

20. How to play soccer

21. how to play Lacrosse

22. How to make a soufflé

23. How to skin a fish (this creeps me out)

24. How to grill/bbq

25. how to make a 5-7 course meal.

26. How to choose wine correctly

27. How to do an Aerial

28. How to shoot a gun accurately

29. learn more about fine dining

30. Make a mousse

31. Make home made sauces

32. How to shoot all types of guns

33. Effective Knife fighting

34. how to use a DSLR camera

35. How to drive manual

36. How to spin/DJ

37. how to cook vietnamese food

38. How to set a VCR

39. How to use photo shop

40. How to increase my presence in a crowd

41. How to repair clothes (buttons, zipper, holes)

42. Calligraphy

43. learn how to pick the right bed

Things to [Do]: 

1. Watch Wet Hot American Summer

2. Sky Diving

3. kayak in the moonlight

4. Go bar hopping in San Francisco

5. Go to places of fine dining

6. Hike Mission Peak

7. Geo Caching

8. go kart racing

9. Make an EPIC sandwhich

10. swim more than 4 laps 

11. get below 12% body fat

12. Fix my wrist

13. rehab my knee correctly

14. fix my ankles

15. increase my vertical

16. MC a 100+ person show

17. Increase my network

18. Improv Comedy

19. get past 5 bars

20. Go running at least 3 times a week/or eliptical

21. start bboying again

22. play soccer

23. Warriors game

24. Giants Game

25. Earthquakes game

26. 

Feb 23

Work, Cougars, and skinny dipping

I’m moving in a few months to live by myself completely. 


It’s all for work and I’m starting to freak out.

If you don’t know, my career that i am working towards is one in private investments and project development. Basically if you have a project you want done, i make your dreams come true.  It’s something i’ve known i’ve wanted to do since i was little kid. My mom does it currently and is basically the reason i chose this as what i want to do for my life. This post isn’t about how awesome the job is going to be though. It’s about some things i’ve noticed the few times i’ve gone out to projects that concern me. 

When i start doing this job full time, my life is going to be very fast paced. I’m going to be all over the world traveling to foreign countries to meet with people. I’ll get to experience new cultures, new people, and new drama. one thing i’ve already experienced is how many of these projects involve women. They seem to be everywhere and can be anything from common gold diggers, girls looking to have fun, to women looking to snatch up a guy for life and marry him. This is my one concern with my job choice.

My career is going to involve traveling the world, giving people a good time (parties, dinner, etc.), and never pissing off anybody as i try to land deals and close them too.

Heres an example of a moment i’ve experienced:

I was 20 years old, living in San Diego, in a relationship, and down to do as many projects that were thrown my way. 

I got a call to do attend a conference in Palm Springs for work. I went to the conference with another work associate of the company that we’ll call Steve. Steve was a 50+ year old caucasian male that can sell a hooker sex. he was smooth, tall, and handsome. Ladies loved it. As a matter of fact they loved it so much that on the first day of the conference he got us into the VIP party, and dinner from a bunch of older ladies that he had met. The long haired blonde (from now on we’ll call her LHBL) lady was the equivalent of one of those “real Housewife” ladies, but she was from Denver. The second lady was a brunette haired lady that raised Arabian horses somewhere (we’ll call her BRHL). The third lady was a short haired blonde lady (SHBL) whose house we went too. Her house was full of platinum and gold records that her widow husband had produced for many notable artist. 

THIS IS WHERE THINGS STARTED TO GET WEIRD

Remember that i’m 20 years old and not of legal drinking age, so when these 50+ year old ladies asked me what i wanted to drink. I put my work face on and said that i’ll just have water. Thats when they started to drink wine. Steve joined them in their libations while i had water. We had a fabulous pasta dinner that was home made by the SHBL. After dinner and a few bottles of wine things started taking a turn for the worse. The cougar ladies started to get a bit friendlier with their dinner table conversation that forced Steve and I to be cautious with our words as to not anger our host, nor allow them to continue their behavior. Luckily for me Steve was on my side for this part of the night because he wanted to go to the VIP party rather then spend the night stuck in a house full of 3 giddy cougars. I could go on for pages about this part alone but i’ll just go and mention some highlights. 

That was all in a span of 1 hour. With the SBHL coming at me nonstop for 15+ minutes. I swear that during that time i was so scared of her. Not only did it not help that i was in love with a girl at the time, but that girl was also not very trusting of me and seemed to give off the vibe that she thought that i’d cheat on her and what not. She actually has no idea that this ever happened because I didn’t and still don’t think that she can/could handle this information. She probably wouldn’t see how i literally fought off cougar attacks repeatedly over n over because i was so into my gf at the time. She’d prob see that women were flirting with me and trying to get me to motorboat them instead, but thats beside the point because we still have a part 2 to this story.

We arrive at the house of the VIP party. It was more of a mansion. Huge house with a huge door int eh front. We walk in and see a beautiful interior. This place was at least $5 million dollars. I think if this house was in the bay area it’d be $10+ easily. Anyways back to the house. It had 2 garage type doors that slide up and down. They were 20 feet high and led to the backyard. which contained a huge swimming pool with a buddha theme (his house idea, not mine). The pool was amazing as it had a gigantic hot tub that flowed into the pool, an underwater tunnel, and bridges that went through it. 

Back to the house. So one of the first thing i see when i walk in is one of the high rollers at this conference being kissed on the lips by a woman that wasn’t his wife. He just laughed it off and if that hadn’t been a sign of what was coming then i don’t know what was. (BACK TRACK ALERT! So apparently when you’re a 20 year old asian male walking around with a 50+ year old caucasian male. You get noticed ALOT more then other people. At the conference earlier in the day, people didn’t know if we were associates, if i was his assistant, or if he was dating my mom. It led to us meeting many people which i guess in this business is a plus and a minus.) So there we stood hanging out with all these high rollers, cougars, and models. Oh yea did i mention that there were models. Super hot models shipped in from LA, Santa Monica, etc. area to party with us.

Yea so back to the story. There we were hanging out with all these people when all of a sudden this AMAZING brunette girl comes up to us. The three of us start chatting and i could instantly tell that she was very intrigued at why Steve and I were hanging out together earlier in the day. So, again i could bother you with a long story or do some bullet points so here it goes

This is where it gets funny and sad

This is the boring truth

Fast forward a couple of years to a few weeks ago. I’m now 22 years old and single (which is why i can write this story). I’m getting prepped to work full time when i move so i start to ask my mom questions about this line of work. I tell her about my experiences that i’ve had. I tell her the trouble i’ve had with women that i’ve been involved with and those that i haven’t been. She tells me that everything i’ve experienced, like the palm springs story above is perfectly normal and that i have to learn to get used to it.

This is where i’ve been confused for a long while. This is what i want to do. This is what i am made for. I excel at being social and doing projects. I love this job and i love what i get to do. However, I don’t know how a job like this will help me in the <3 department. I’m not one to cheat, but it might be hard for whoever is my significant other to feel secure with me going around the world doing things like what i wrote above and hell doing even more probably.

This goes out to the girl i have a crush on at the moment. I’m sure we’ve already had talks about this, but yea this looks like it is going to be my life starting in the near future.

This goes out to my ex. I don’t know if you’re ever going to read this, but i just wanted to tell you that i’m sorry i didn’t tell you about this when it happened. I just don’t think you can handle it. I think that if i had told you then it would’ve just lead to needless arguing. anywho, we’re not together anymore so who cares right cause i’m over this. It’s more funny and amusing to me then negative anyways. 

This goes out to my family. Thanks for all the things you’ve instilled in me. I’m never going to do someone dirty. Not even if it’s a house full of super hot models talkin about skinny dipping. I’m going to stand my group and make you guys proud when i start traveling. love you guys.

I have a lot to think about in the upcoming months. So if you have any tips or anything that will make life easier for me as i try to live by myself and independently then hit me up. 

Feb 07

Weekend Of Wonders

W.O.W

Friday - My homie Peter Le’s bday was dopetastic as we ate great thai food, fed him cake, and set off fire crackers. We got a police officer who only moments before was questioning us to go and take pictures of us. Great moments!

Saturday - Tet Festivals for new years, saw the “kids”, watched fireworks/firecrackers for an hour and blew out my ear drums, watched Anderson Silva bring out the Steven Seagal and front kick for the win, UFO’s, and more!

Sunday - Superbowl Sunday at my house where i had the best food ever at a kickback, watched a hella dope game with hella dope people. Oh and i spanked Perucci 3-1 in FIFA! Double OH! I also set off fireworks again! with my indian neighbors just staring and chilling. 

Feb 03

New: year, moments, and post?

Been a while since i’ve written a blog post so let me update you with things i’ve    experienced since i’ve done anything here.

Some EXPERIENCES i’ve had

Great:

Kinda Good, Kinda Bad, Mostly iffy feelings:

Bad:

These are just some things i’ve been up to. I’d write more, but i already forgot some of them and i’d be wasting my time to make more epic moments.

hit me up if you want in and i’ll see you around. later gators